SPORTS SAFETY IQ is a blog whose mission is to shed light on the shocking, ridiculous and unimaginable reality of what can happen (and does happen) to kids playing sports -- so that parents, coaches and athletes can avoid the hidden dangers and enjoy their sports experience.

Before I tell you about sports safety, you should know what compels me to blog in the first place. In my day job, I have logged 22 years in the Sports Insurance industry as the head of Bollinger's Sports Division ~ a specialty niche at Bollingerfor over 60 years.

The best part of my job is working with sports organizations to improve safety by looking at injury data and coming up with ways to minimize future claims. The frustrating part of my job is getting out among coaches and parents and realizing that all our hard work on safety has not trickled down to the playing field.

This disconnect has prompted me to adopt my "Miss America Platform" to spread the word on sports safety. I am also driven to speak out on safety because it's alarming to deal with the kinds of claims and injuries I see every day. In sports, these claims can be very ugly ~ and when they happen to kids like yours and mine, it is gut-wrenching. No one wants to hear about catastrophic injuries, permanent scarring, emotional trauma or fatalities. But they happen.

What gets me so fired up is that an estimated 90% of sports injuries to kids can be prevented. That's why I feel the need to get on this soapbox and tell every parent and coach, "Hey, you've got to do something about safety. You can make a difference."

So let's get cracking. The message on safety has to get out to the field of play because even the slightest improvement in safety can be meaningful. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.